Neal Versus the Math Problem
by Anaica
Summary: Emma finally has her own place, Killian has (un)officially moved in. It's time to celebrate, or would be if Henry didn't have math homework. Neal to the rescue! But will the math problem get the best of him?
1. I'm good at math

**I do not own Once Upon a Time. i'm back! And so is Amelia. Her life is looking up, finally and it is only going to get better. She deserves it after all the crap I put her through. Reminder, this is OC with nine previous stories, I HIGHLY suggest you read them, there are awesome (okay, I am saying that because I wrote them, but they were awesome to write.)**

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It was a small gathering, or as small and intimate as Storybrooke could be. So about four dozen plus people. Emma Swan was hosting her housewarming party a good two weeks after she and Henry had moved into a medium sized house that overlooked the harbor.

It was long, very long overdue. Emma could only live at her parents' for so long. The loft was crowded enough, Mary Margret, David, Luke, Emma, and Henry. And there was the fact that Killian was still sleeping at Granny's.

It had very large rooms: four bedrooms, three bathrooms, living room, an eat in kitchen, dining room, and a yard. Perfect for Emma and her small family.

Amelia looked around and suddenly knew this was exactly what she wanted, a home to raise a family in. But it wasn't needed yet. Right now it was just her and Neal and occasionally Henry. But someday, there would be a home with their names on it.

There was good food, Granny had supplied most of it, including her famous lasagna. And of course, there was lively conversation and laughs through the Sunday afternoon. Henry finally introduced Roland to video games and didn't need to be told to stay away from anything too violent. Mary Margaret and Regina were in the middle of discussing town project when they noticed the beginning of a drinking contest between Robin, David, Killian and Neal. No one wanted to carry any of them home. The dwarves seemed to know better and not get involved. Amelia and Belle lent a hand whenever it was needed, they did just like to sit back and watch the long awaited family togetherness.

Just as the evening was winding down, Emma approached Amelia looking excited but also a bit nervous. "Hey, could you do me a huge favor?"

They were almost family and had been through hell together. Why should Emma feel nervous about asking for help? "Of course. What do you need?"

"Can you and Neal take Henry for the night?" Emma asked.

Of course they would take him, but Henry did have another mother, so Emma obviously had choices. Maybe Emma trusted Amelia more at the moment. "Yeah sure… is everything alright?" Why would Emma want to kick Henry out for the night? Emma didn't answer, she just looked across the room at Killian. And Amelia understood that look all too well. "Oh… of course we will take him." Amelia assured Emma. There was a bit more she wanted to say but wasn't sure it would be comfortable. "One word of advice, if it's not too weird…" Emma nodded, she actually didn't mind the advice. "Make sure he takes off the hook beforehand. You will have scars."

"Thank you." Emma replied, she sounded so relived.

"No problem. Oh and one more thing, be careful with your magic. The burns on Neal's arms, not from work like we kept telling everyone."

"Yeah, I know." Emma laughed. Amelia looked at her shocked. "You guys can't hide anything from me."

"You and your super power." Amelia shook her head and went back to Neal's side. She slid into his lap. "We are taking Henry for the night."

"Okay, is everything alright? He asked.

"Of course. Emma just wants the place to herself for the night."

Neal looked slightly confused but that ended when Amelia winked at him. "Oh… wait, they haven't…"

"They aren't us." She placed a kiss on his nose.

Amelia and Neal were the last ones to leave. Luke was getting fussy, or Mary Margaret and David would have stayed longer. Everyone else had left after cleaning up.

Emma approached Henry. "Hey kid, you want to go to your dad's tonight?" She asked. Killian was deep in conversation with David at the moment.

Henry looked skeptical. "I got math homework to finish."

"I'll help you with it. I'm very good at math. Neal volunteered. He was looking out for the mother of his child. Yes, they had an awkwardly wonderful relationship.

"Okay fine." Henry went to his room to get his books.

"Thank you guy so much for this, really." Emma said when they were at the door.

"Not a problem. We will be make sure he gets all the homework done and get him to school on time in the morning." Neal assured her, giving her a quick hug.

Amelia also hugged Emma. "I do expect the favor returned." She told her quietly.

"You're beginning to sound like him." Emma commented.

They both knew who she meant. "Some things rub off." Amelia shrugged with a smile. "Good night Killian!" She yelled into the next room.

He yelled back. "Good night Amelia. Good night Neal!"

Book bag on Henry's back and coats bundled up, Neal, Amelia, and Henry left the house. Killian came back into the room to find it empty. "That was a nice gathering there, Swan. Everything is cleaned up in the kitchen. Where's the lad?" He didn't see Henry around.

"Neal and Amelia took him." Emma answered casually.

"Oh, that's nice." He fell silent. "I should get going…"

"Why?"

"Because the party is over."

"Party isn't over until I say it is, Captain." She had a grin on her face as she tilted her head to the bedroom.

"Oh…" He caught on fast. "Swan, I thought you would never ask."

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 **Hehe, fun times are ahead, for one couple at least. Storybrooke is finally quiet and peaceful and normal.**


	2. Maybe not

**I do not own Once Upon a Time. I am so with Neal on this.**

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When did letters become a part of math? Maybe Neal had opened his mouth too soon. But here he was, sitting at the kitchen island with his teenage son, a textbook and tons of scrap paper. There were also pencils, erasers, eraser shavings, broken pencils, pencil sharpers and calculators. It was quickly discovered that the dining table was too small.

So this was trigonometry or geometry or some combination of the two? Neal was good at math, but Enchanted Forest math and some of this realm's math. The simple stuff, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percent.

Amelia walked into the kitchen and couldn't help but smile. Father and son were exact copies of each other. They were slumped over a book, head in one hand, pencil that was being chewed on in the other.

She had to capture this moment forever. Her phone came over and she quickly snapped a picture.

"Really baby, savoring our failure?" Neal huffed slightly.

"It's only failure if you give up. And I thought you said you were good at math. You were around when it was invented, right?"

"Very funny." Neal said, but did accept her apology kiss.

"Eww, guys this homework is already making me sick." Henry wanted to bang his head on the table.

"Sorry, but honestly, when are you going to actually use this stuff?" Amelia turned the book to look at the problems.

"I ask that question every day." Henry answered her.

They finally had all of the problems done about forty-five minutes later, well as except the very last one. Why was it always the last one that was the hardest? The answer they had didn't match the one in the back of the book. And it wasn't just off by a little, but by a lot. Like a few hundred.

"Our childhood was so much easier; we didn't need to know this stuff…" Neal complained.

"Back in my day…" Henry jokingly started to say. Both Neal and Amelia looked at him confused. "You're taking about the 'good old days' when life was easier. 'I used to walk to school in ten feet of snow, uphill, both ways.' Times change. I need good grades so I can get into a good college and then get a good job. That's this world's 'happily ever after'."

"Wow, we did have it easy. What were you planning on being back in the Enchanted Forest?" Amelia asked Neal.

"I wanted to be a solider, anything to prove that I wasn't a coward like my father. I never got the chance to do that. Stealing then became the norm. But I do really like working on cars now. What about you?"

"I was studying to be a healer. There was a lot of hands on training, no books." Amelia answered. "Henry, what do you plan on studying?"

"Not sure yet. There's a lot of choices. I can major in one thing and minor in something else. I can double major, who knows. Maybe I'll be undeclared while I figure things out."

"Sounds like a plan. But right now, we need to figure out this crazy problem." Neal finally turned back to the textbook. "If you take the square root of this…"

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 **Aww, father son time.**

 **FYI- I would love some concept art for this chapter, I think it would be adorable.**

 **Reviews please?**


	3. Hoisting the white flag

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

 **I am so sorry about the mix up. Here is the ending for "Neal vs. the Math Problem".**

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The next morning found Neal Cassidy falling asleep in his booth at Granny's. Exhausted wasn't even close to how he was feeling. How could one math problem defeat him? He had faced worse and won. Magic was one thing but apparently a math problem from hell took him down.

He and Amelia sent Henry to bed around eleven. Even the Truest Believer gave up. That was new. Neal stayed up later, so much later that Amelia stopped trying to bribe him to come to bed. 'No, I need to finish this problem." He said over and over.

Now this morning, he was dead to the world. He wouldn't be surprised if Granny kicked him out for snoring.

He heard movement behind him and he knew exactly who it was. "You two owe me big time." Neal told Emma and Killian.

"What?"

"Have you seen Henry's math homework? There's letters and numbers and square roots and I don't even know that. When is he ever going to use this stuff?"

Emma opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Amelia slid into Neal's booth. "Drink your coffee. You're not you before your coffee." She pushed the mug into his hands.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"Was it that bad?" Killian asked Amelia.

"Let's put it this way, I felt like I was staring at different language." Amelia answered. Math had never been her strong suit, or at least this world's math. Like they had said last night, the Enchanted Forest was so much easier. Education wise at least.

Neal finally finished his coffee and his head popped up. "Who's Henry's teacher?" He asked.

"My mom." Emma answered.

He hit himself in the head. "Damn it! I wrote a harshly worded letter about her teaching skills…" He bolted out of the booth and out of the diner.

"So thank you for the crash course in parenting." Amelia raised her mug to Emma and Killian.

"Anytime, lass." Killian responded.

"But seriously, you guys are doing his math homework with him from now on. It was stupid and pointless. I doubt he is ever going to use it. Emma, how do you help him?"

"I usually just bride Dad." Emma told Amelia over the rim of her mug.

Amelia opened her mouth to say something. Emma never struggled through Henry's math homework, she had her dad do it? Seriously? Part of her wanted to use her magic to do something, but no, she was going to be the bigger person. And besides, when she and Neal did have their own kids, she doubted she could just call David up. Maybe, though if she bribed him well enough.

"So… you're not even going to ask how our night went?" Emma asked. There was a little bit of joy and magic in her voice. Killian looked over the moon.

"Why? I know exactly how your night went. The complete opposite of mine." Amelia laughed. "Welcome to the new normal."

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 **Short, sweet, nothing crazy, just normal.**

 **Review please**

 **I'm super excited for the next story: "Never Shop with Snow White" published on the 5th. Can you guess what we are shopping for?**


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